Checks can also be mailed directly to the Joy to the World Foundation at 4570 Hilton Parkway Suite 203, Colorado Springs, CO 80907. Donations should include “Team Tanner” in the memo line of the check.

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After taking over ownership of the 7-Eleven at 629 Main St. in February, new owner Ashley Harrison is collecting donations for the family of a Greeley woman who lost her battle with colon cancer last fall.

Last march, Sherra Tanner was diagnosed with colon cancer after a colonoscopy procedure. Her diagnosis was the start of seven months of chemotherapy before she died Oct. 27.

“She was very outgoing,” her husband, Chris Tanner said. “You know how there are just some people in a family or a community that are people magnets? That was Sherra. She was very loving and caring. Everyone else around her came first.”

After living in Greeley for 10 years, Chris Tanner and his sons, Ryan and Alex, moved to Windsor last week.

“The biggest shock is the realization that I’m a single parent now,” Chris Tanner said. “It’s pretty overwhelming. It’s like having a leg kicked out from under your table.”

The Sherra Tanner Scholarship Fund has been set up to provide support for her sons’ college education, as well as ongoing education for North Colorado Medical Center oncology nurses, who cared for Sherra Tanner during her battle with cancer.

“During chemotherapy she spent a ton of time with the oncology nurses,” Chris Tanner said. “They became like family and I felt it was important to give back to them. They really put heart and soul into their jobs. I couldn’t do what they do.”

Carolyn Gdowski, a friend of the Tanner family, decided to set up a fundraising effort to help the family. After Harrison heard about the fundraising effort, she said she wanted to get involved.

Harrison and her staff are all raising funds, and as an incentive she will offer the employee who raises the most money a paid day off from work.

“I think when you own a business in a small town, you’re part of that town,” Harrison said. “We’ve all gone through hard times and it’s that sense of community that brings people together. All of my employees have really stepped up to the plate to help support the Tanner family. I have a great team here.”

Team Tanner, about 40 of Sherra Tanner’s friends and family, as well as employees from 7-Eleven, ran in the Colorado Half Marathon today to raise money for her scholarship funds.

“It’s been very encouraging to see the community and how they’ve come together and provided amazing support and help to us,” Chris Tanner said. “We really are gracious for the countless ways people have supported us recently.”